Industry conferences and seminars, expert speakers at Propak Africa

Submission Date : 2019-01-22

Industry speakers sharing their knowledge and expertise at the new free-to-attend seminars

Taking place from 12-15 March at the Expo Centre in Nasrec, Johannesburg, visitors to this year’s Propak Africa will have the opportunity to engage with over 600 exhibitors showcasing their latest products, equipment, machinery and services. Many new products are set to be launched, live demonstrations are planned and technical experts will be on the stands.

Visitors will also have access to industry speakers sharing their knowledge and expertise at the new free-to-attend seminars, which will be taking place daily in Hall 7. Over 20 speakers will be presenting across the four days of the show. Four separate industry conferences will also be running alongside Propak Africa, adding further opportunity for learning.

“We are really excited to introduce the new free-to-attend seminars at Propak Africa this year,” says Sven Smit, Event Director for Propak Africa. “The seminars will provide an additional platform where latest industry trends can be shared and important industry issues addressed. We are also excited about our new ‘every day a themed day’ initiative, where each day of the show will support a different theme. Day one will focus on new products, day two sustainability, day three skills development, and day four, a ‘local is lekker’ South African day. The seminar topics will be aligned with our themed days.

”Packaging 4.0 will be the first seminar topic that visitors can look forward to. Whether described as Industry 4.0, a smart factory concept or expanding the Internet of Things to industrial applications (Industrial Internet of Things = IIoT), all these generally refer to the same thing: the networking and digitalisation of production. For manufacturers in all sectors, this topic represents a major challenge as well as a unique opportunity and this presentation will explore this in-depth.

Understanding the next generation of bottle manufacturing and how new techniques are changing the face of sustainable packaging, will be the topic presented by Ray de Vries who is the founder and CEO of Airwater. In another talk, Romulo Leon, Head of Global Sales and Market Management at Mettler-Toledo in Germany will ask the question: “Are you on track for serialisation?” Other topics presented on the first day of the show will include ‘International flexible packaging trends and sustainability’ and the ‘digital revolution in roll labels’.

Day two of the show, sustainability day, opens with Plastics SA’s Executive Director Anton Hanekom discussing concerns around many of the so-called ‘plastic alternatives’ that are now flooding the market without having been properly evaluated. He will talk about the options and how Plastics SA is facilitating this process. Other topics on day two include examining the reasons behind South Africans not dedicating any or enough effort to recycling; waste reduction vs waste disposal and how to reduce your carbon footprint; and how, through innovation and research the world over, the ligno-cellulosic components of trees are yielding new ways of protecting the things we use and food we eat – offering a renewable and remarkable resource.

Many other speakers will share important insight on a broad range of topics over the last two days of the show, focusing on the themes of skills development and ‘local is lekker’. Speakers will include Leon Grobbelaar, President of the Institute of Waste Management SA (IWMSA), Steve Thobela, CEO of Printing SA, Kishan Singh, National Educational Officer at the Institute of Packaging SA (IPSA), Bhekithemba Dlamini, Deputy Director, Agro Processing Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and Coillard Ford, Provincial Manager: Gauteng North, Nedbank Business Banking, amongst many others.

Conferences alongside Propak Africa

Further information about the four co-located conferences can be found on the Propak Africa website. The IPSA (Institute of Packaging SA) Think Tank will take place on 12 and 13 March, the Printing SA Conference will take place on 13 March and the SAPRO Design for Recycling Workshop will take place on 13 March. VDS Media’s Propak Africa Packaging Innovation and Sustainability Conference will take place on 14 March. Sustainability concerns and developments surrounding substrates and raw materials will be debated as well as how South Africa’s top retailers and brand owners are incorporating sustainable packaging formats into their packaging value chains. Propak Africa and co-located shows FoodPro, Pro-Plas Expo, Print Expo and Pro-Label Africa will be taking place from 12-15 March at the Expo Centre in Nasrec, Johannesburg. A Propak Africa App can be downloaded to keep visitors updated prior to and during the show. For further information and online visitor registration, visit www.propakafrica.co.za